■Oil markets
Glut causes crude to fall
Crude oil fell as much as 1.3 percent as traders speculate a pledge by OPEC to cut output in June won't be enough to prevent a glut after Iraq resumed output for the first time since US-led forces invaded the country. The price fall extended a 14 percent slump last week amid concern that OPEC failed to restore confidence in its output quotas that have been flouted since January 2001. Even Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi's promise on Friday of a "significant" output cut by OPEC's top producer wasn't enough to stem the decline in prices. "The market was very disappointed with OPEC and that's why they're selling," said Tetsu Emori, a commodity strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures Ltd in Tokyo. Crude oil for June delivery fell as much as US$0.35 to US$25.91 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
■ Electronics
Hitachi posts small profit
Hitachi Ltd, Japan's biggest electronics maker, posted a smaller-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and said net income will decline this fiscal year, sending its shares down as much as 6.9 percent. Tokyo-based Hitachi's net income totaled Japanese Yen 13.7 billion yen (US$114 million), or Japanese Yen 4.07 a share, in the three months ended March 31, compared with a net loss of Japanese Yen 257 billion, or Japanese Yen 77.13, a year ago. Hitachi said weaker global growth, partly because of a deadly respiratory disease and the cost of rebuilding Iraq, will make it difficult to sustain an earnings recovery this year. In Japan, it expects lower spending by individuals and corporations to continue, weighing on its earnings and those of its local peers. Sales in the fourth quarter rose 6 percent to Japanese Yen 2.35 trillion from Japanese Yen 2.22 trillion a year earlier.
Agencies
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